The Washington Capitals returned to the ice for practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex after falling to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday afternoon. Monday’s skate was the team’s lone full practice ahead of hosting the Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night.
The Capitals saw almost their entire roster participate in the skate, except defender Timothy Liljegren. That group included recent trade acquisition Remi Poirier, who got his first look in net as a member of the Caps.
Here’s everything you need to know from practice.
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Injury updates on three Capitals defensemen
Timothy Liljegren was the lone Capitals player not to take part in Monday’s practice for what the club called a maintenance day. After the skate, when asked about Liljegren’s status, head coach Spencer Carbery wasn’t concerned about the Swedish defender’s availability for Tuesday’s matchup with the Stars.
“Just a maintenance day for Lily,” Carbery said. “Should be (fine for tomorrow), yeah. I’ll talk to Serbs (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus).”
Liljegren’s countryman, Rasmus Sandin, also skated with his teammates for a second straight practice as he continues to recover from ACL surgery. Sandin, still wearing a light blue no-contact jersey, took part in light drills again before heading off the ice early.
While he obviously did not jump on the ice, Vincent Desharnais, who is still out for a few more weeks due to undergoing an appendectomy, watched the end of practice from one of the benches.
“I saw him last week as well, so it was good to catch up with him and hear about his tumultuous few weeks that he’s had,” Carbery said. “Really makes you take a step back and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, a fit professional athlete is in a scenario like that where he does not know what’s going on and is in immense pain, but glad he’s back and glad he’s getting healthy.”
The Capitals are carrying just six defensemen on their active roster after sending Dylan McIlrath to the AHL’s Hershey Bears, so they can’t afford another injury on the backend.
Remi Poirier practices with new teammates for first time
The Capitals’ coaching staff got their first look at goalie Remi Poirier as the 25-year-old backstop practiced with his new team. Washington sent a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the New Jersey Devils to acquire Poirier on Sunday.
“Just met him this morning, and then he got into the mix in practice, so it was good to see him out there,” Carbery said.
Carbery also reaffirmed his view that the Capitals would take a “day-by-day approach” to their three-goaltender roster setup.
Players react to new Hometown Remix jerseys
The big news on Monday was the full unveiling of the Capitals’ Hometown Remix jerseys, which bring back Washington’s iconic blue color scheme from the late 1990s and their Capitol Dome logo.
After practice, RMNB’s Katie Adler got Carbery, Tom Wilson, and Dylan Strome to give their reactions to the new sweaters.
“I like them, I like them,” Carbery said. “I like what they’re doing with these remixes. I think it’s comparable to the MLB and the City Connects. I think they look good.”
“Yeah, they’re nice,” Wilson said. “Very different than what we’ve worn the last bunch of years. Definitely a cool spin on things, bringing some of the history of the jersey back around. Kind of a cool trend across the league. I think bringing the gold back is cool. Gold stars, gold trim, obviously. I grew up with a black-with-gold-trim Ovi jersey when I was a kid, so it’s cool to see that logo come back.”
“I think the black looks good with the blue, that color blue, and I think the gloves look nice,” Strome added. “I like the gold and black together; I think it looks really good, so yeah, I’m excited to wear them.”
Washington announced they will wear the new sweaters at 11 home games during the rest of the 2026-27 regular season. The first of those outings comes in less than a week, when the Capitals host the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
